Chapter 27 Can a horse have a vendetta?
Sarah's POV
I had some pretty high hopes for this beautiful morning. It was Saturday which apparently meant that no actual class would take place, just chores and Capture the flag. During breakfast someone had been thoughtful enough to briefly tell me why Capture the flag was such a big deal. Though despite their many reassurances I couldn't help but think it sounded more like the Hunger Games, rather than a harmless camp activity. I mean what could possibly go wrong when you leave a bunch of random kids and teenagers unsupervised in the woods with deadly weapons to battle each other for prizes. Oh and let's not forget that sead woods are purposely stocked with bloodthirsty monsters. But you know it's whatever… or maybe this game is one of the reasons Luke didn't want me to come. I tried to shake that thought away as I opened the door to the Pegasus stables. The smell that greeted me definitely helped to distract me from my thoughts. Now, I'm not a complete stranger to horses, I took riding lessons when I was eight. But I had forgotten how bad an un mucked stable could smell. Also I guess I thought that magic flying horses wouldn't smell as bad as normal ones, sadly I was wrong. So trying not to breathe through my nose, I started showing myself around. The stable looked like any other stable, long with a tall selling. Along one wall hung the normal care items, such as brushes, buckets, pics and food. Graffiti had been carved on some of the walls and support posts. The only unusual thing about this stable was the size of the stalls, each one was at least twice the size of a normal stall. So besides that the stable appeared normal enough, but the horses were another matter entirely. They seemed to be watching me curiously as I explored, though I got the feeling that these animals were very intelligent. It was a little unnerving to have them watching me as I walked down the row of stalls. But as intimidating as they were, I couldn't help but stare at the beautiful creatures. It was obvious they were well taken care of. Their coats looked soft and sleek, tails and mains were smooth and free of tangles, and their wings were gorgeous, full of lush feathers. As I walked down the row of stalls I was amazed at all the different colors of the horses. Previously when I thought of pegasi I thought of pure white. Which of course they're were some that were white but I also saw gray, brown and even some paints. But the horse that stopped me in my tracs was stunning. He was a large well muscled stallion, and pure glossy black, except for a long white scar across his right flanc. Without thinking I stepped closer and reached out a hand, as I did his nostrils flared slightly. Suddenly the Pegasus stopped the ground angrily and minasingley spread his wings to their full span. Startled, I snatched my hand back, just in time to because the horse bit at the space my fingers had aqupide just a moment ago. I stood frozen in place as the stallion became more and more agitated. Huffing, stamping the ground, and whinging angrily. I was so focused on the terrifying sight in front of me that I hardly noticed when two people ran past me and tried to calm the horse. Which unfortunately only made the animal more infuriated. He began to rear as the girl stood next to me, hands razed practically yelling to be heard.
"Blackjack! Sedl down!"
The boy grabbed my arm to pull me away from the infuriated stallone, as one of the horses hooves
came down on the small lach that held the door closed. The simple latch broke and the raging horse rushed out of the stall, with his head low and lips curled back. I took another hesitant step back and the two young teens put themselves between me and the pegasus. Time seemed to slow down as I retreated farther, yet the two
Middle schoolers stood their ground. This moment in time didn't feel real, it should have belonged to some movie. Why else would they be standing side by side with arms out, to form a barrier between me and the horse. However I knew as cinematic as this felt, it was very real and it was wrong and cowardly of me to hide behind them. But before I could gather enough courage to act like an adult, I heard someone yelling,
"WHAT IN HADES IS GOING ON IN HERE!"
All four of us looked over to see none other than Percy running towards us. The middle schoolers looked as relieved as I felt as they shouted,
"Percy, thank the gods you're here!"
And,
"Your horse has gone mad!"
The younger Half-Bloods made room for Percy to step between Blackjack and us. As he did the Pegasus let out another angry whiney stomping the ground. To which Percy blurted out,
"What!? That's impossible!"
Blackjack whined agen and Percy replied saying,
"Hey, don't use that tone with me."
If someone were to walk in at that moment I'm not sure who would have looked more ridiculous. Percy arguing with a horse, me watching him argue with the horse or the other two watching me watch him arguing with a horse. Apparently after about a minute of this Blackjack got tired of quarreling with Percy and shoving him out of the way began to advance on me again. Percy regained his balance and moved in between us again calling to the other two.
"Brice, Savannah, get Sarah out of here!"
They redacted quickly, grabbing my wrists leading me away, right before we rounded a corner I heard Percy yell,
"Enuff Blackjack he's been dead for over a year!"